Dr. Linda Mintle

Tag: children

  • Dogs and Kids: Keeping everyone safe

    Experienced mom and dog behavior consultant, Jennifer Shryock, gives 10 helpful tips on what to do when children visit your home and you have a dog. I thought this was worth passing along

    1. Plan ahead: Will you introduce the child and dog. How will you do it?
    2. Is the child fearful of dogs? This is important to know.
    3. Have a place for your dog to safely have quiet time away from the children. Crate, yard, gated off area that the kids are not going to disturb him.
    4. ADULT SUPERVISION NO MATTER WHAT when the dog is around children. If an adult is not there to defer to when a dog is stressed, then he will defer to his natural responses to stress.
    5. If your dog is not comfortable with kids, then respect that and get help from a dog behavior consultant to work on helping him be more comfortable. It’s okay to put doggie away. When in doubt leave him out.
    6. If it’s a doggy home then have a kid zone! This is a place the dog can not come in without an adult. It is the kids play space that is completely dog free.
    7. If there are multiple dogs in the home then consider only allowing one out with you at a time.
    8. When your child visits a home with a dog be sure to ask the rules and safety measures the parents have in place.
    9. Trust your gut. Follow your instincts. If it feels unsafe….it most likely is. Do not wait to find out.
    10. Never allow children to play in a yard unsupervised if a dog is in the yard.

  • Video Games: Does the Violence Matter?

    We’ve come a long way from Pong and Pac Man when it comes to video games.  According to studies published in the April 2000 edition of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, violent video games can increase aggressive behavior.

    Here are the results. One study wanted to answer the question; if people are exposed to violent video games over time, will they show more aggression? The answer is yes. Not only did aggressive behavior increase with violent video playing, but so did delinquent behavior. This means that the more people played violent games, the more likely they were to be aggressive and delinquent-not a good outcome. This relationship was stronger in men and people with aggressive personality traits.

    In addition, academic achievement was poorer for those college students who had a long time history of playing video games (any kind of video game not just violent video games). College students were chosen for the study because they were old enough to have long -term histories of playing video games. While college students don’t represent all students, this information is still useful. Additional studies are needed to see if this same finding applies to high school kids as well.

    What should we learn from these studies? Playing video games may hamper academic achievement–not something most parents will be thrilled to hear. Secondly, aggression and delinquency can result from long term playing of violent video games-another negative finding.

    The concerns of many parents are real even though the media downplays the impact of these games on kids. Exposure to these games can increase aggressive behavior. These games aren’t just entertainment. They have the potential to harm. Let’s look to the research for answers and not listen to the opinions of those profiting from sales.

    Anderson, Craig A. & Dill, Karen E. (2000). Video games and aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behavior in the laboratory and in life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,78(4), 772790.